B’nai B’rith Helped Coordinate Events in Various Countries
 
(Washington, D.C., Jan. 29, 2020)—B’nai B’rith International, in partnership with local Jewish communities, helped coordinate events across Latin America in honor of Holocaust Remembrance Day and the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp.
 
Events were held in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela.
 
In Argentina, a commemoration event at the Foreign Ministry featured keynote speaker Foreign Minister Felipe Sola, who had also attended a global Holocaust remembrance ceremony with world leaders, including President Alberto Fernandez, at Yad Vashem. Solá underlined the importance of having attended the meeting in Israel, the fact that Argentina is the only full Latin American member of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), and that his government is fully committed to combating discrimination and anti-Semitism.
 
In Chile, the event was held in the Foreign Ministry and the keynote speaker was Foreign Minister Teodoro Ribera. The Chilean Foreign Minister recognized two Chilean Righteous Among the Nations: Maria Edwards McClure and Samuel del Campo, who "saved innocents from slaughter with bravery."
 
In São Paulo, Brazil, hundreds of attendees crowded one of the largest synagogues to commemorate Holocaust Remembrance Day. Jewish organizations, including B´nai B´rith, organized the gathering, and the keynote speaker was São Paulo Gov. João Doria.
 
In Uruguay, Congress paid tribute to the victims of the Holocaust in a special session and representatives of all political parties delivered a message. It was relevant news that on the same day, the Uruguayan government announced that Uruguay had adopted the IHRA working definition of anti-Semitism.
 
Former President of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and former Iberoamerican Secretary General Enrique Iglesias delivered a very touching speech on national radio and TV on the night of Jan 27th. He will chair a commission of experts that will develop several educational activities during 2020 all over Uruguay, teaching the history of the Shoah and the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.
 
The National Assembly of Ecuador held a special session to commemorate Holocaust Remembrance Day.
The Israeli Embassy in Peru is developing a week of events together with the Jewish community.
 
Irene Shashar, a Holocaust survivor and the wife of former B’nai B’rith-Peru President Dani Schydlowski, delivered her moving testimony about her experiences, at the United Nations in New York Shahar noted:  "I defeated Hitler; I survived."
 
The Nation Assembly in Panama held a special session, which was attended by B’nai B’rith-Panama President David Djemal and the Jewish community.
 
There is a week of events in Guatemala organized by Jewish and evangelical organizations, and the Jewish community of Venezuela held a special event with the French ambassador as keynote speaker.
 
The Mexican Jewish community held several events, including in both the Congressional House, and the Senate.
 
The Costa Rican Jewish community will commemorate Holocaust Remembrance Day in February.
 
B’nai B’rith International has advocated for global Jewry and championed the cause of human rights since 1843. B’nai B’rith is recognized as a vital voice in promoting Jewish unity and continuity, a staunch defender of the State of Israel, a tireless advocate on behalf of senior citizens and a leader in disaster relief. With a presence around the world, we are the Global Voice of the Jewish Community. Visit www.bnaibrith.org
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Focus on Lesser-Known Story of Rescue of Jews by Philippines
 
(Washington, D.C., Jan. 27, 2020)--B’nai B’rith International held events at the United Nations in New York and Israel today to commemorate International Holocaust Remembrance Day. Both focused on the vital role of the Philippines in saving Jews from Nazi death camps.
 
In New York, B’nai B’rith International and the Philippine Permanent Mission to the United Nations, in cooperation with the U.S.-Philippines Society, held a joint Holocaust commemoration event. Ambassador Kira Christianne D. Azucena, representing the Philippine Permanent Mission to the U.N., delivered a welcome address, followed by opening remarks from B’nai B’rith International Chair for U.N. Affairs Millie Magid, who noted: “as memory fades, so do lessons, which is something our world cannot afford.”
 
During his keynote address Secretary of Foreign Affairs of the Philippines Teodoro L. Locsin, Jr., said that the program today commemorated the “simple decision to do the decent thing” and later noted of Philippine society, “What we will not have done to us, we will not stand by when done to others.”
 
 A trailer for the documentary “An Open Door: Holocaust Haven in the Philippines” was also screened. Noel “Sonny” Izon, the film’s director, introduced the trailer and told the audience he was “hopeful that this story encourages future generations to have the courage to care and the compassion to keep the story alive.”
 
B’nai B’rith CEO Daniel S. Mariaschin moderated a panel discussion with Bonnie Harris, a lecturer at the San Diego State University Department of History; Ralph Preiss, a Holocaust survivor whose family was taken in by the Philippines; and Hank Hendrickson, the executive director of the U.S.-Philippines Society.  
 
Many of the event’s speakers focused on the legacy of the Philippines’ “Open Door Policy” to Jews fleeing the Holocaust, which allowed almost 1,300 Jewish refugees to settle in the Philippines. Harris noted that the legacy that the Philippine people have left for the world is that “compassion can overcome complacency.” Preiss expressed his gratitude for the “vision and legacy” of Philippine President Manuel Quezon, who implemented the policy.
 
Mariaschin concluded the event commending all of the participants and expressing gratitude to Quezon “for this marvelous act” of rescue.  He also stated the overall goal of B’nai B’rith’s programs to help “preserve the memory of the Holocaust and highlight ongoing threats and discrimination.”
 
At a companion event today in Israel, the B’nai B’rith World Center-Jerusalem teamed up with the Philippine Embassy to hold an event entitled “Safe Haven: Jewish Refugees in the Philippines” spotlighting the “Open Door Policy.” The Jewish refugees who settled in Manila referred to themselves as “Manilaners.” B’nai B’rith World Center-Jerusalem Director Alan Schneider spoke about the history of the “Open Door Policy.”
 
“The ‘Open Door’ policy was pursued by President Quezon out of a deep sense of outrage at the violence and dispossession visited upon German Jews from the moment the Nazis came to power – until it was stopped by the outbreak of WWII,” Schneider said. “He did so with determination and in the face of voices in the U.S. administration and in his own government that objected to the large-scale immigration Quezon envisioned. For this we honor him today.”
 
A Manilaner who still lives in Israel, Max Weissler, attended the event. Ambassador Neal Imperial delivered opening remarks: “Each person that managed to reach Manila was a life saved, a life allowed to reach its full potential, a life continued through the next generations. Quezon offered a new home and hope to 1,300 refugees, who went on to marry and have children and grandchildren. That is the true weight and worth of Quezon, Paul McNutt’s and the Jewish network in Manila’s legacy.” The ambassador quoted Quezon’s speech before the Jewish refugees at the inauguration of Marikina Hall, the Jewish shelter he had built on 7.5 acres of land he personally donated: “It is my hope, and indeed my expectation, that the people of the Philippines will have in the future every reason to be glad that when the time of need came, their country was willing to extend a hand of welcome.”
 
The event featured a panel discussion with Imperial and Professor Robert Rockaway of Tel Aviv University, as well as screenings of excerpts from two films about the refugee policy, “The Last Manilaners” and “Quezon’s Game.”

To watch the archived video from our event at the United Nations New York City headquarters, visit this link.
 
B’nai B’rith International has advocated for global Jewry and championed the cause of human rights since 1843. B’nai B’rith is recognized as a vital voice in promoting Jewish unity and continuity, a staunch defender of the State of Israel, a tireless advocate on behalf of senior citizens and a leader in disaster relief. With a presence around the world, we are the Global Voice of the Jewish Community. Visit www.bnaibrith.org
​

(Washington, D.C., May 6, 2019)-- The B’nai B’rith World Center-Jerusalem honored the legacy of Jewish Holocaust-era rescuers in Belgium at two major events held on May 2nd - Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Day (Yom Hashoah). The events were dedicated to rescue efforts undertaken by members of the Jewish Defense Committee in Belgium (CDJ, for its initials in French).
 
 The phenomenon of Jewish rescue and the instructive stories of thousands of Jews who labored to save their endangered brethren throughout Europe have yet to receive appropriate public recognition. Many who could have tried to flee preferred to stay and rescue others; some paid for it with their lives. With great heroism, Jews in every country in occupied Europe employed subterfuge, forgery, smuggling, concealment and other methods to ensure that Jews survived the Holocaust, or assisted other Jews in escaping to safe havens, and in doing so foiled the Nazi goal of total genocide against the Jews. The organizers of the ceremony view it as especially important to expose Jewish youth to these narratives as a model for Jewish solidarity and courage.
 
The first event was a unique joint Holocaust commemoration ceremony held for the 17th consecutive year together with Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael/Jewish National Fund - the only event dedicated annually to commemorating the heroism of Jews who rescued fellow Jews during the Holocaust. Held at B’nai B’rith Martyr’s Forest “Scroll of Fire” Plaza”, over 1,000 Jerusalem-area school pupils and pre-army preparatory academy students attended the ceremony together with Jewish rescuers, survivors and Border Patrol cadets.
Speakers at the ceremony were Mr. Danny Atar, world chairman, Jewish National Fund; Dr. Haim V. Katz, chairman of the B’nai B’rith World Center-Jerusalem; Brigadier General Yehuda Yehoshua, commander of the Border Guard Combat Training Center; H.E. Olivier Belle, ambassador of Belgium to Israel; and Michel Werber, son of CDJ founding members Abusz and Shifra Werber.
 
During the ceremony, a “Jewish Rescuers Citation” was conferred on 11 leading members of the CDJ - David Ferdman, Hertz Jospa, Hava Jospa, Abraham Manaster, Chaim Pinkus Perelman, Fela Perelman, David Trocki-Muscnicki, Paulina Avstritski, Josef Sterngold, Abusz Werber and Shifra Werber - and four other rescuers who were active in Poland - Shraga Dgani, Miriam-Mania Zeidman, Yaacov Segalchik and Bela Yaari-Hazan. A joint project of the B’nai B’rith World Center-Jerusalem and the Committee to Recognize the Heroism of Jewish Rescuers during the Holocaust, nearly 270 heroes have been honored with the citation since its establishment in 2011 for rescue activities in Germany, France, Hungary, Greece, Slovakia, Yugoslavia, Russia, Poland, Ukraine, Italy, Holland and Belgium.


The second event was an international conference entitled “Historical Perspectives on Jewish Rescue in Belgium During the Holocaust”. Held before an overflow crowd at the official residence of Ambassador Belle, speakers included B’nai B’rith World Center-Jerusalem Director Alan Schneider; Paul Jospa, son of CDJ leaders Hertz and Hava Jospa; B’nai B’rith Antwerp President Willy Kahan (who is married to the daughter of CDJ rescuer Josef Sterngold, Rachel); Olivia Mattis, granddaughter of CDJ founders Prof. Haim and Fela Perelman; and Alain Blitz, the son of a Belgian deportee to Auschwitz and an educator and author of the first Hebrew-language book on the Holocaust in Belgium. Lectures were presented by Dorien Styven, researcher and archivist at the Kazerne Dossin Museum of Deportation and Resistance in Mechelen, Belgium, on "Unlikely Allies - Diversity in the Ranks of the Jewish Defense Committee," and by Joel Kotek, professor at the Free University in Brussels and at Sciences Po University in Paris entitled, “Reception of the Holocaust and Jewish Resistance in Belgian Historiography”. Closing remarks were offered by David Inowlocki, honorary vice president, Belgian Association for Hidden Children. The conference was co-sponsored by the Committee to Recognize the Heroism of Jews who Rescued Fellow Jews during the Holocaust (JRJ); B’nai B’rith Joseph Wybran Lodge; OBI – Organization of Belgians in Israel (l'Asiociation des Originaries de la Belgique en Israel) and Amilies Israel Belgique Luxemburg – Tel Aviv.
 
Two Jewish Rescuers Citations – in memory of CDJ activists Leopold Flam and Israel Tabakman - were presented at the close of the conference.
 
Reports on the events were carried in the Jerusalem Post, Times of Israel, Swiss National Radio, Belgian National Radio, I24 news, Jwire, Israel Radio, JTA, KAN 11 Television – Israel Public Broadcasting Corporation and Maariv, among others.
--
The Jewish Defense Committee in Belgium was founded in September 1942 in reaction to the start of the deportation of Jews by the Gestapo in August 1942 in Brussels and Antwerp. The goal of the CDJ was to operate clandestinely to save as many Jews as possible. The CDJ united Jews from a broad ideological spectrum (including communists, revisionists, General Zionists and members of "Left Zion Workers” and "Zionist Youth") and from different swathes of society (among them Belgian citizens and foreigners, secular and religious Jews and even some non-Jews, such as the teacher Andree Geulen) to engage in joint rescue operations. The CDJ urged Jews to disregard the orders of the local Judenrat – the AJB - and go underground instead, and also endeavored to win the support of the general public for persecuted Jews. Some of the CDJ members held positions in the AJB and secretly passed on vital information to foil the German's nefarious plans. 

The committee managed to rescue 3,000-4,000 Jewish children – half of all the Jewish children who survived the Holocaust in Belgium – and provided life-saving assistance to 10,000 adults, including hiding places and forged documents. This activity endangered the lives of the CDJ members; some of them were captured, tortured and deported to concentration camps. Some did not survive. The CDJ operated as an adjunct of the "Independence Front" – the most significant resistance organization, founded in Belgium in March 1941, that united 17 different ideological and religious groups lead by the Communist Party in response to the German invasion of the USSR. At the time of the German invasion of Belgium – May 10, 1940 – 66,000 Jews lived in the country, of whom only 10 percent were Belgian citizens; 34,801 were arrested during the Holocaust (among them 5,092 children under the age of 16); 28,902 were murdered – 44 percent of the entire Jewish population in Belgium; 24,906 were imprisoned - usually for several days – at the transfer camp Mechelen-Malines and deported from there on 28 transports to Auschwitz beginning in summer 1942. Only 1,337 survived the camps. 

The number of CDJ members reached 300. It operated an impressive administrative network to handle finance, forged papers and food coupons, clandestine press and concealment of children and adults. The department for forged papers was so successful that it also provided papers for non-Jews trying to avoid forced labor. The principal feature of CDJ – cooperation between groups across the ideological and political spectrum - was the basis of an organization unique in Western Europe. The main chapter of the committee was in Brussels. Other chapters were in Charleroi and Liege. In Antwerp, the committee was founded in 1943, when three independent groups started to collaborate. 55 percent of Belgian Jews survived thanks to the swift response of individuals who went underground independently, to the heroic operation of members of the CDJ and to the support of the local Belgian society at large, including many clergy. It should be noted that Jews also operated outside the CDJ in various resistance organizations in smuggling, intelligence, sabotage and clandestine press. The unequivocal conclusion resulting from the events in Belgium during the war is that passivity of the Jews facing the horrors of the Holocaust is a myth.     

The B'nai B'rith Martyr’s Forest is the largest joint B’nai B’rith and KKL-JNF project, which memorializes the victims of the Holocaust with 6 million trees planted in the picturesque Jerusalem mountains near Moshav Kesalon. At the pinnacle of the forest stands the “Scroll of Fire,” created by renowned sculptor Nathan Rapoport, which invokes the destruction.

B’nai B’rith International has advocated for global Jewry and championed the cause of human rights since 1843. B’nai B’rith is recognized as a vital voice in promoting Jewish unity and continuity, a staunch defender of the State of Israel, a tireless advocate on behalf of senior citizens and a leader in disaster relief. With a presence around the world, we are the Global Voice of the Jewish Community. Visit www.bnaibrith.org
​

Ceremony Dedicated to Rescue Efforts of the Jewish Defense Committee (CDJ) in Belgium
​
The B’nai B’rith World Center in Jerusalem and Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael (KKL-JNF) will hold, for the 17th consecutive year, a unique joint Holocaust commemoration ceremony on Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Day (Yom Hashoah, Thursday, May 2nd). This is the only event dedicated annually to commemorating the heroism of Jews who rescued fellow Jews during the Holocaust. Jerusalem-area schools and pre-army preparatory academies will attend the ceremony together with Jewish rescuers and survivors, and the Border Patrol will provide an honor guard. The ceremony will take place at the B’nai B’rith Martyr’s Forest “Scroll of Fire” Plaza at 10:00 a.m. Israel time.

This year's ceremony will be dedicated to rescue efforts undertaken by the Jewish Defense Committee (CDJ). Speakers in the ceremony will be: Mr. Danny Atar, world chairman, Jewish National Fund; Dr. Haim V. Katz, chairman of the B’nai B’rith World Center-Jerusalem; Brigadier General Yehuda Yehoshua, commander of the Border Guard Combat Training Center; H.E. Olivier Belle, ambassador of Belgium to Israel; and Michel Werber, son of CDJ founding members Abusz and Shifra Werber.

The Jewish Defense Committee in Belgium was founded in September 1942 in reaction to the start of the deportation of Jews by the Gestapo in August 1942 in Brussels and Antwerp. The goal of the CDJ was to operate clandestinely to save as many Jews as possible. The CDJ united Jews from a broad ideological spectrum (including communists, revisionists, General Zionists, members of "Left Zion Workers", "Zionist Youth") and from different swathes of society (among them Belgian citizens and foreigners, secular and religious Jews and even some non-Jews, such as the teacher Andree Geulen) to engage in joint rescue operations. The CDJ urged Jews to disregard the orders of the local Judenrat – the AJB - and go underground instead, and also endeavored to win the support of the general public for persecuted Jews. Some of the CDJ members held positions in the AJB and secretly passed on vital information to foil the German's nefarious plans.

The committee managed to rescue 3,000-4,000 Jewish children – half of all the Jewish children who survived the Holocaust in Belgium – and provided life-saving assistance to 10,000 adults, including hiding places and forged documents. This activity endangered the lives of the CDJ members; some of them were captured, tortured and deported to concentration camps. Some did not survive. The CDJ operated as an adjunct of the "Independence Front" – the most significant resistance organization, founded in Belgium in March 1941, that united 17 different ideological and religious groups lead by the Communist Party in response to the German invasion of the USSR. At the time of the German invasion of Belgium – May 10, 1940 – 66,000 Jews lived in the country, of whom only 10 percent were Belgian citizens; 34,801 were arrested during the Holocaust (among them 5,092 children under the age of 16); 28,902 were murdered – 44 percent of the entire Jewish population in Belgium; 24,906 were imprisoned - usually for several days – at the transfer camp Mechelen-Malines and deported from there on 28 transports to Auschwitz beginning in summer 1942. Only 1,337 survived the camps.

The number of CDJ members reached 300. It operated an impressive administrative network to handle finance, forged papers and food coupons, clandestine press and concealment of children and adults. The department for forged papers was so successful that it also provided papers for non-Jews trying to avoid forced labor. The principal feature of CDJ – cooperation between groups across the ideological and political spectrum - was the basis of an organization unique in Western Europe. The main chapter of the committee was in Brussels. Other chapters were in Charleroi and Liege. In Antwerp, the committee was founded in 1943, when three independent groups started to collaborate. 55 percent of Belgian Jews survived thanks to the swift response of individuals who went underground independently, to the heroic operation of members of the CDJ and to the support of the local Belgian society at large, including many clergy. It should be noted that Jews also operated outside the CDJ in various resistance organizations in smuggling, intelligence, sabotage and clandestine press. The unequivocal conclusion resulting from the events in Belgium during the war is that passivity of the Jews facing the horrors of the Holocaust is a myth.    

 During the ceremony, the “Jewish Rescuers Citation” will be conferred on 11 leading members of the CDJ and four other rescuers who were active in Poland: David Ferdman, Hertz Jospa, Hava Jospa, Abraham Manaster, Chaim Pinkus Perelman, Fela Perelman, David Trocki-Muscnicki, Paulina Avstritski, Trocki-Muscnicki, Josef Sterngold, Abusz Werber, Shifra Werber and Shraga Dgani, Miriam-Mania Zeidman, Yaacov Segalchik, and Bela Yaari-Hazan. Since the establishment of the Jewish Rescuers Citation in 2011, nearly 270 heroes have been honored for rescue activities in Germany, France, Hungary, Greece, Slovakia, Yugoslavia, Russia, Poland, Ukraine, Italy, Holland and Belgium.

The B'nai B'rith Martyr’s Forest is the largest joint B’nai B’rith and KKL-JNF project, which memorializes the victims of the Holocaust with 6 million trees planted in the picturesque Jerusalem mountains near Moshav Kesalon. At the pinnacle of the forest stands the “Scroll of Fire,” created by renowned sculptor Nathan Rapoport, which invokes the destruction of the Jewish people in the Holocaust and their redemption in the State of Israel. The event will commence with personal testimonies by Holocaust survivors to classes of soldiers and students.

The phenomena of Jewish rescue and the instructive stories of thousands of Jews who labored to save their endangered brethren throughout Europe have yet to receive appropriate public recognition and resonance. Many who could have tried to flee preferred to stay and rescue others; some paid for it with their lives. With great heroism, Jews in every country in occupied Europe employed subterfuge, forgery, smuggling, concealment and other methods to ensure that Jews survived the Holocaust, or assisted them in escaping to safe havens, and in doing so foiled the Nazi goal of total genocide against the Jews. The organizers of the ceremony view it as especially important to expose Jewish youth to these narratives as a model for Jewish solidarity and courage.
​
Program
 
09:00-09:30 a.m.         Personal testimonies by Holocaust survivors to soldiers in the Forest
09:45 a.m.                    Coalesce in “Scroll of Fire” Plaza
10:00 a.m.                     Siren peal and ceremony commencement
11:00 a.m.                      Ceremony conclusion
11:00-11:30 a.m.             Personal testimonies by Holocaust survivors to students in the Forest

For interviews and more details, please contact: B’nai B’rith World Center Director Alan Schneider at 052-5536441 or aschneider@bnaibrith.org; Golan Yosiffun 052-4625135.
​
B’nai B’rith International has advocated for global Jewry and championed the cause of human rights since 1843. B’nai B’rith is recognized as a vital voice in promoting Jewish unity and continuity, a staunch defender of the State of Israel, a tireless advocate on behalf of senior citizens and a leader in disaster relief. With a presence around the world, we are the Global Voice of the Jewish Community. Visit www.bnaibrith.org

(Washington, D.C., Jan. 28, 2019)--B’nai B’rith International and the Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations hosted a joint event entitled, “India: A Distant Haven During the Holocaust” on Jan. 28 at the headquarters of the world body in New York. The event, commemorating International Holocaust Remembrance Day, featured Dr. Kenneth Robbins, an expert on the Indian Jewish community, and Stephen Tauber, a Holocaust survivor whose family fled from Austria to India. Indian Ambassador Syed Akbaruddin and B’nai B’rith International President Charles O. Kaufman gave opening remarks. CEO Daniel S. Mariaschin introduced Robbins and Tauber.  
 
The two guest speakers discussed Jews in India on both a macro and a personal level. Robbins spoke about minorities’ contribution to Indian society, and India’s history of religious tolerance. He also outlined the movement of Jews to India during different periods of history.  
 
Tauber told a more personal story of his own family, which left Vienna and traveled to India on an Italian ship. His family worked to maintain its Jewish traditions in a tiny community. In 1941, the family settled permanently in the United States.
 
“Ken is a font of knowledge about India, and particularly the intersections between Indians and Jews… Ken’s work epitomizes the phrase ‘labor of love,’” Mariaschin said, praising Robbins. Mariaschin addressed Tauber by expressing his thanks “for your presence, for your story – and that you and your family were fortunate to find rescue in India and ultimately a new life here in the United States.”  
 
In his remarks, Kaufman emphasized the U.N’s role in fighting hatred and violence. "Although the U.N. does not always live up to its original promise, that promise remains and so does our commitment to see it realized. This is particularly so as anti-Semitism, other forms of hatred and even mass atrocities persist on our planet. Even worse, anti-Semitism persists as Holocaust-denial,  that grave injustice, only stands to intensify as more time following World War II passes and we lose more of the survivors, the first-hand witnesses to the unthinkable crimes of the Nazis. And as memory fades, so do lessons – which is something that our world cannot afford."
 
B’nai B’rith, distinguished for its exceptional role at the United Nations since the body’s very founding, has annually marked International Holocaust Remembrance Day and maintained longstanding ties to India. B’nai B’rith leaders have visited the country, met with senior Indian government and other officials, dispatched humanitarian aid in India during periods of emergency and sponsored a traveling exhibition on intercommunal coexistence in the Indian city of Cochin (Kochi).

​To view an archived video of the event, click here.
 
B’nai B’rith International has advocated for global Jewry and championed the cause of human rights since 1843. B’nai B’rith is recognized as a vital voice in promoting Jewish unity and continuity, a staunch defender of the State of Israel, a tireless advocate on behalf of senior citizens and a leader in disaster relief. With a presence around the world, we are the Global Voice of the Jewish Community. Visit www.bnaibrith.org

​(Jerusalem, Dec. 5, 2018)— The B’nai B’rith World Center-Jerusalem and the Committee to Recognize the Heroism of Jews who Rescued Fellow Jews During the Holocaust announced during the Chanukah holiday that they will posthumously honor with their Jewish Rescuers Citation 18 Jewish heroes who risked their own lives to rescue fellow Jews. Seventeen of the honorees are leaders of the Comité de Défence des Juifs en Belgique (CDJ), the joint Jewish/non-Jewish Jewish Defense Committee in Belgium: Abusz Werber, Chaim Perelman, Maurice Heiber, Benjamin Nykerk, Ghert Jospa, Yvonne Jospa, Esta Heiber, Sophie Werber, Fela Perelman, Ida Sterno, Abraham Monastir, Joseph Sterngold, Pauline Trocki, George Livchitz, Leopold Flam, Erna Stern and Israel Tabakman.

The CDJ was established by five disparate Jewish organizations and one non-Jewish organization following the first deportations from Antwerp and Brussels by the Nazis in August 1942. Until then, the different organizations had undertaken independent rescue operations. It operated as an underground resistance group with the purpose of helping Jews – especially children – evade deportation through various illegal methods, mainly hiding, but also the provision of false credentials.

Six of the eight founding members were eventually arrested and deported, and only two of them survived. The Committee was the single largest Jewish clandestine organization in wartime Europe, with 768 activists. It is credited with ensuring the survival of 3,000 Jewish children and as many as 10,000 adults. Some 55 percent of Belgium’s prewar Jewish population of 66,000 (90 percent of them non-citizens) survived the war due to staying hidden, the actions of the committee and the heroism of Belgian non-Jewish rescuers, many of whom have been recognized as Righteous Among the Nations. CDJ assumed the task of conveying the children to new homes and keeping tabs on how they were cared for. This task necessitated a great deal of travel and was therefore the province of non-Jewish women members, who were the least likely to raise the suspicion of the Germans and their Belgian collaborators.

The eighteenth rescuer to be honored with the Jewish Rescuers Citation is Mania Zeidman, who endangered herself to rescue fellow Jews while working in the Ober Altstadt Concentration Camp infirmary in Germany. Zeidman allowed recovering women to remain in the infirmary so that they would not have to face the hardship of work outside that would have surely lead to their death in the harsh conditions. By these actions she endangered herself, earning the wrath of sadistic doctors who beat her often.

More than 200 Jewish rescuers from 14 countries – now including Belgium – ­ have been recognized by the Jewish Rescuers Citation since its inception in 2011 for their demonstration of human and Jewish solidarity, which they demonstrated by endangering their lives to rescue others.

For more information about the Jewish Rescuers Citation, please contact Alan Schneider, director, B’nai B’rith World Center—Jerusalem 02-6251743.

B’nai B’rith International has advocated for global Jewry and championed the cause of human rights since 1843. B’nai B’rith is recognized as a vital voice in promoting Jewish unity and continuity, a staunch defender of the State of Israel, a tireless advocate on behalf of senior citizens and a leader in disaster relief. With a presence around the world, we are the Global Voice of the Jewish Community. Visit www.bnaibrith.org

B’nai B’rith Urges Dismissal of Marc Lamont Hill Over Call to Erase Israel

(Washington, D.C., Nov. 28, 2018)--B’nai B’rith International calls for the immediate dismissal of CNN commentator and Temple University professor Marc Lamont Hill over explicitly anti-Semitic statements he has made as featured speaker at the primary United Nations event marking the body’s yearly International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.

Coming in the aftermath of CNN’s release of a survey showing the persistence of global anti-Semitism—whose most lethal strain is now the demonization and delegitimization of the world’s only Jewish state—Hill endorsed the anti-Jewish discrimination of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement and justified all forms of Palestinian “resistance,” which largely refers to terrorism against Israeli civilians. Most shockingly, he echoed the jihadist aspiration of erasing Israel completely, asserting that justice requires “a free Palestine from the [Jordan] river to the [Mediterranean] sea.”

Ironically, today’s Palestinian solidarity event marks the day in 1947 on which the U.N. General Assembly endorsed the right of Jews to a homeland in Israel—a right that continues to be rejected by Middle East extremists.

Hill has regularly engaged in anti-Semitic rhetoric at events hosted by Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), a radical activist group that has advocated the destruction of Israel. SJP actively promotes support for terrorists, including Rasmea Odeh, who participated in a grocery store bombing that killed two students in Israel, and Ahmed Manasara, who indiscriminately stabbed Israeli civilians on a street in Jerusalem and told police officers he “went there to stab Jews.”

Hill has also been an open proponent of the BDS campaign, whose founding was motivated by a desire to isolate, harm and ultimately eradicate Israel by promoting economic warfare against it. 

Additionally, he has had a longstanding relationship with Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, a foremost purveyor of modern anti-Semitism, who has called Judaism a “gutter religion” and Jews “satanic.” In 2016, Hill posted online a picture of himself smiling with Farrakhan, adding the caption, “Been blessed to spend the last day with Minister Louis Farrakhan. An amazing time of learning, listening, laughing, and even head nodding to music. God is Great.” Last month, when challenged on his association with Farrakhan after the latter compared Jews to termites, Hill tweeted: “Although I disagree with the Minister on those important issues, I will not allow that to be an excuse for allowing dishonest media or poorly intentioned observers to create unnecessary division. I will not be told who to speak to, sit with, or engage.”  

Hill’s continued career at CNN, and as a professor of media studies and urban education at Temple University in Philadelphia, is especially ironic in light of the network’s recent survey highlighting widespread anti-Semitism in Europe. The poll revealed that many Europeans continue to believe in anti-Semitic tropes. Over a quarter of those surveyed said they think Jews have too much influence in business and finance. Nearly one in four said that Jews have too much involvement in armed conflicts and wars worldwide. The survey also revealed a troubling lack of knowledge surrounding the events of the Holocaust. Although the Nazi genocide resulted in the murder of six million Jews on European soil, a third of the survey’s respondents said they knew little or nothing about the Holocaust. Nearly a third blamed Israel’s actions for anti-Semitism in their countries, and 18% blamed the behavior of Jews in general.

It is intolerable that Hill, who describes himself as “one of the leading intellectual voices in the country,” has enjoyed important platforms to spread his bigoted views. His association with anti-Semitic, racist and homophobic groups and figures prevents him from speaking with any moral authority on peace and justice, particularly to a global television audience and to students. He must be swiftly repudiated and replaced by CNN and by Temple University. ​

B’nai B’rith International has advocated for global Jewry and championed the cause of human rights since 1843. B’nai B’rith is recognized as a vital voice in promoting Jewish unity and continuity, a staunch defender of the State of Israel, a tireless advocate on behalf of senior citizens and a leader in disaster relief. With a presence around the world, we are the Global Voice of the Jewish Community. Visit www.bnaibrith.org

(Washington, D.C., Nov. 8, 2018)—B’nai B’rith International President Charles O. Kaufman and CEO Daniel S. Mariaschin have issued the following statement:   
 
We are gratified that France will not include Marshal Philippe Pétain, who collaborated with the Nazis during World War II, in its Armistice commemoration this weekend.

For days, there seemed to be confusion within the French government about the status of an honor for Pétain. It is important that the choice was made not to recognize him as a war hero for his World War I service. The confusion points out the continued need to educate future generations about the Holocaust and the events that led up to this horror against the Jewish people and so many others.
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While he was the prime minister of the collaborationist government Vichy France, Pétain’s government and police force deported more than 75,000 French Jews to concentration camps. More than 72,000 of them were killed.
 
Pétain was convicted of treason for his crimes during the war and ultimately sentenced to death. His complicity in the murders of French citizens and collaboration with the genocidal Nazi regime cannot be whitewashed.
 
Israel has recognized almost 4,000 French citizens as Righteous Among the Nations. These men and women bravely risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust. They are the true heroes, not Pétain.
 
B’nai B’rith International has advocated for global Jewry and championed the cause of human rights since 1843. B’nai B’rith is recognized as a vital voice in promoting Jewish unity and continuity, a staunch defender of the State of Israel, a tireless advocate on behalf of senior citizens and a leader in disaster relief. With a presence around the world, we are the Global Voice of the Jewish Community. Visit www.bnaibrith.org